Evaluation of mitochondrial DNAHV2 region: an approach to personal identification via maternal generation

ABSTRACT

Mitochondrial DNA [mtDNA] has several features, which makes it useful for personal identification especially when there isn 't enough nuclear DNA. The high copy, resistance to degradation, and short size are some of them. mtDNA has a zone that is called hypervariable region [HVR] and is divided in two regions HVl and HV2. 10 unrelated families in 3 sequential maternal generations [grandmother, mother, and grandchild] were selected randomly. Blood samples were taken and mtDNA extracted. Then HV2 sequence analysis was determined. 49 polymorphic nucleotide positions were found in this region. The sequence of HV2 and the occurred polymorphisms were similar in each family except 5 sites ofheteroplasmy. The average number of nucleotide differences between families was 2.8 nucleotides. mtDNA sequence analysis of the hypervariable regions is an effective tool for personal identification, especially for old, small, and highly degraded samples